Backlash
by Quest cat
Summary: A compleate disregard of all three endings of PE2. Aya gets kidnapped and goes through some magor mental trama. Can't tell ya any more cause that would b
1. Default Chapter

This is my first PE fic, so bare with me. No, this isn't an Aya bashing fic, so no flames. I took a few liberties with the back-story, if you don't like the sound of that, don't read. Further warning, original characters, these three show up in a lot of my stories, again, if you don't like, don't read.  
  
P.S.- I don't Own Parasite Eve, don't shoot me.  
  
No.9 picked himself up from the pile of debrites that had fallen on top of him. He shook his head, trying to clear it. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he was certain that the 'little girl' was the one responsible for this.  
  
"That bitch!" He screamed, pulling out his sword and lighting it, "When I get my hands on her! You hear me little girl?"  
  
He stopped himself and considered his options. He could kill her, but would that really get him anywhere? She had taken everything that had ever mattered to him away and she needed to suffer. Then it dawned on him, the perfect revenge. He started off toward the place of his creation, he was going to have to prepare for this.  
  
Aya is walking through Neo Ark, checking to make sure that everything is dead. No.9 could smell her, she was so close, he was going to enjoy this.  
  
"'Breaker, breaker, this Coolboy22 calling for Hotasianmankiller, do you read?'" Pierce called over the channel, "What is your current situation?"  
  
"Pierce, you are a nut job, you know that?"  
  
"'Come on Aya, you've gotta talk trucker!'"  
  
"Let's see if this gets through, if you don't stop it, I will take that radio of yours and shove it someplace the sun don't shine and I'm going to shove it so far up there that you'll never find it!"  
  
"'Didn't get much sleep last night, did you?'"  
  
"No," she mumbled, "Also, I can't shake the feeling that I'm being watched."  
  
No.9 rushed out then and slammed Aya against the wall.  
  
"That's because you are!" he yelled, ripping the microphone off her and crushing it. "Payback time!"  
  
He hoisted her up onto his shoulder and started walking. Aya tried to channel a blast of inferno but quickly grew dizzy from the effort.  
  
"Go ahead! Kill me!" she yelled, trying to struggle free from his grip. "You won't have the satisfaction of hearing me beg for my life!"  
  
"Oh, but my dear, I have no plans for killing you."  
  
"Then what.?"  
  
"You took my queen from me, now you're going to take her place."  
  
"I'll never.!"  
  
"You don't have a choice in the matter, little girl, I mean, my queen," he mocked.  
  
"No matter what you do to me."  
  
"Once I'm done with you, your so called friends won't want you back."  
  
"You don't know what you're talking about."  
  
No.9 throws her down onto the operating table and straps her in place.  
  
"You just go on thinking that," he said, filling a syringe.  
  
"Fuck you!"  
  
"Is that an offer?"  
  
"You wish!"  
  
He shoved the needle into her thigh. Before she passed out, she hacked one and spit it in his face. Once she was out, he wiped himself off and began his work  
  
"I'm telling you guys, I heard No.9's voice over the channel!" Pierce exclaimed.  
  
"I think you've been drinking to much coffee again," Rupert said, trying to ignore the rowdy information officer.  
  
"I haven't had even touched a drop yet today!"  
  
Jodie noticed how withdrawn Kyle was.  
  
"What's eatin' you?"  
  
"I'm worried about Aya," he said with a sigh, "I don't know what Pierce heard over the radio, but it's not like Aya to go this long without checking in."  
  
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were also still feeling guilty about having shot her back there."  
  
"It's that obvious, huh?" he asked, getting up and walking out of the room.  
  
"I think you may have hit a nerve there, Jode," Rupert said, placing a hand on Jodie's shoulder.  
  
Aya woke up, still on the table. She found herself wrapped in a soft, white sheet. She saw that No.9 had left a gun on the counter. She tried to get up and get it, only to fall to the floor. She couldn't feel anything past her mid-back. Sobbing, she dragged herself over and pulled down the gun. She stuck it in her mouth and started to squeeze the trigger. No.9 walked into the room then.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he yelled, ripping the gun from her hands.  
  
"What does it look like?" she asked, wiping her eyes.  
  
"If you think that I'm just going to let you die."  
  
"Why not? With what you've done to me, I'm better off dead!"  
  
"Dear girl," he said, mockingly, "You're only half finished. I can assure you that whatever isn't working will be restored by the time you are completed." He laughed quietly to himself. "However, your body won't be able to take any more tonight."  
  
He picked her up from the floor and carried her into the sleeping quarters, laying her on Yoshida's bunk. He wrapped the sheet more tightly around her shoulders and pulled the blankets up over her. He walked out of the room, turning out the light as he did so.  
  
Aya woke up the next morning. She tried to sit up, but her efforts were reworded only with a splitting headache. She laid back down, lest her head actually split open. She noticed a mirror across the room from her bed. She looked herself over as best she could. Her face had been left untouched and human, though her tone was a bit uneven. She felt around her body. There were a few ridges that shouldn't have been there, but nothing to bad. No.9 walked into the room then.  
  
"How are you this morning?" he asked, just a little to perky.  
  
"Go to hell," she spat out bitterly.  
  
He placed a cup of coffee down on the table next to her.  
  
"What is that, poison?"  
  
"Don't get your hopes up," he watches her glare at him for a moment. "You should get something in your system before you're finished," he said matter- of-factly before looking over at the mirror. "Should have had that removed."  
  
"Not that I'd care," she said, leaning back slightly.  
  
She tried to channel at least a blast of Plasma but the damn headache wouldn't allow her to concentrate. Instead, she threw the cup at No.9's face. She watched him clench his fists and mumble something to himself. He then seemed to regain his composer and lifted her from her place on the bed.  
  
"We need to finish you today," he said in a low voice.  
  
He plopped her down on the table in the operating room.  
  
"What do you mean, finish me?"  
  
She watches him hold up a metallic clamp a few inches from her face.  
  
"Not much more then this," he said with a small laugh.  
  
He sets it down next to her while filling another syringe. She looked down at it with disgust written all over her face.  
  
"And just what is that thing for?" She spat out.  
  
"You want to walk again? That will let you do so. Now hold still," he said, injecting Aya once again.  
  
Kyle is sitting on the couch in his apartment, twisting and turning a small black box in his hand.  
  
'Aya,' he thought to himself, 'What happened to you? You've never run into anything that you couldn't handle, and if you ever were to, you'd never hesitate to ask for help. Sure, we might not be much help, hell, we probably wouldn't be any help, but, you'd still let us try.'  
  
He sighed and slumped back.  
  
Aya stirs slightly from her medicated sleep. She realizes that she is not wearing the same clothes that she was before she blacked out.  
  
"That bastard," she mumbled to herself.  
  
"What was that, my dear?" No.9 asked, startling Aya.  
  
She pushes herself to her feet.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"What do you think? You're complete," he said, fastening a gunblade to her belt.  
  
She remained still while he draped a cloak across her shoulders. He then covered her face with a mask nearly identical to his own.  
  
"Come," he said, half dragging her out of the room. "Your kingdom awaits!"  
  
"Hey, Kyle!" Rupert calls after the man that was clearly in a hurry to leave. "Got a minute?"  
  
Kyle turns around to face his friend.  
  
"What?" he asks.  
  
"Let me start by saying that I already know that you're planning on going in there to try and rescue Aya, and I know that you don't stand even the slightest chance if there was something that could have happened to her."  
  
"So what do you want me to do?" Kyle demanded.  
  
"I managed to get through to the White House, they weren't to happy to talk to me but they claim that they're sending in a few specialists for the situation. Though I have my doubts on these so called specialists and what help they could possibly do here."  
  
"They were probably sent just to get us to shut up."  
  
"Wouldn't surprise me a bit. But, please, just wait until these experts get here. At least if something happens to the two of you, we can blame it on whoever they've sent."  
  
Aya is again sitting on the bed that she'd been given, staring at her reflection. The whole thing made her sick, but she really didn't have much choice other then to just ride it out. But the thing that was getting to her in the worst way was the damn mask. Try as she might, she couldn't pull it off.  
  
"Shit!" she yelled, giving up.  
  
She hears the door start to open.  
  
"I hope you're decent!"  
  
She grabs a magazine off the bunks' shelf and throws it at him, nailing the monkey-man in the face.  
  
"Alright, I'll come back later."  
  
"I'll give this new form one thing, he takes all of my abuse without so much as a word!" she announced to herself triumphantly. "But guys, please help," she added, looking at herself again, "Please recognize me!"  
  
Kyle and Rupert looked at the three 'specialists' that the White House had sent them. First there was the woman named Ckat, who had already made it clear that she was the one in charge of the three. She was almost sickeningly pale and never seemed to take off her sunglasses. Then there was the only man among the three. They had heard the woman call him Andy. His behavior was the least threatening of the bunch, though his strange yellow eyes gave everyone the creeps. And then there was Miya; she looked more as if she belonged on the back of a motorcycle rather then with the bunch of them, hunting down creatures who's only purpose is to kill.  
  
"Now, do you understand why we need your help? And more importantly, do you understand why we can't screw up on this?"  
  
"Do chickens run even after you cut their heads off?" Ckat asked with every bit of sarcasm she could muster.  
  
"I'm going to take that as a yes," said, unsure of what to make of the pale woman's remark.  
  
"Take it however you want!" she snapped back.  
  
"What is your problem!?" Kyle demanded.  
  
"She's like this with everyone." Andy piped in.  
  
"I don't need you to talk for me!" Ckat snapped, hitting the blond man square in the jaw.  
  
"Listen, we don't need to have our own people killing each other before we can get the job done. If you must, then wait until after this is over with!"  
  
"Don't tell me what to do, you bastard!"  
  
There was a long silence between the two that was broken by the sound of a gunshot.  
  
"Shit!" Kyle yelled, "What the hell did you do that for?" he demanded, cradling his injured foot.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, I must need to get my hearing checked, I could have sworn that you said, 'oh I see that you've got a gun under your coat, I've never seen anything like it, why don't you show me how powerful it is by shooting my foot?'." Ckat spat back.  
  
Kyle was lead off to the infirmary to take care of his foot.  
  
"You're coming with me!" he yelled over his shoulder, "There is no way in hell I'm leaving you alone with anyone else!"  
  
"Whatever floats your boat!" she called back. "Bastard."  
  
Aya has finally come out of the sleeping quarters and has situated herself on the observation deck of Neo Ark. No.9 came up behind her silently.  
  
"Why?" she whispered to herself.  
  
"Something the matter?" he asked, feigning innocence.  
  
"Is something the matter?!" she roared. "I was born a human and now I'm not one! And you want to know if something's the matter?!"  
  
The podium next to her exploded into fire.  
  
'Damn it,' she thought, 'Still can't aim!'  
  
"Were you trying to light me on fire, perhaps?"  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
"It doesn't show a lot of gratitude to try and kill your king."  
  
"Go to hell!" she shouted as a bolt of lightening struck a plant a little ways behind her aggressor.  
  
"I'll be leaving then," he said his voice barely hiding his growing fear. "By the way, if I were you, I'd just give up on ever going back to those so- called friends of yours."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because, I know from personal experience that humans have this rather bad habit of only trusting their eyes, and so now that you no longer look like the woman they knew, you no longer are the woman they knew. Where as here," he said, capturing her chin in his hand, "You are beautiful."  
  
"Fuck off!" she said, almost sounding calm.  
  
"Very well," he said, mocking her once more.  
  
He walked off, leaving Aya to herself.  
  
Kyle has had his foot taken care and is know trying to speak with particular member of their team. He found Ckat leaning against her car, cleaning her gun and still wearing those sunglasses.  
  
"Do you ever take those off?"  
  
"Do you want me to shoot you again?" she asked, looking down the barrel of her gun at him.  
  
"No," he said, backing away slightly.  
  
"Well, there's your answer."  
  
"Are you always like this?"  
  
She allowed her sunglasses to slide down her nose just enough for her eyes to peak over. There, staring back at Kyle, were a pair of ruby-red gemstones with black slits rather then circles.  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
"I think that you have very interesting contacts. Where'd you get them?"  
  
"They aren't contacts," she said, pushing her glasses back up her nose, "they're my eyes. They're why I wear these things all the time."  
  
"People say things?"  
  
"I don't wear things to keep people from talking, I wear them so I don't go blind driving at night."  
  
"So, we could send you into an area without any substancle source of light and."  
  
"I'd be in and out before they even figure out that I was in there to begin with."  
  
"Nice!"  
  
"Tell me about it!"  
  
"So, can you go very long without shooting someone, say, in the foot?"  
  
"That depends."  
  
"On what?"  
  
"If that someone can go very long without pissing me off."  
  
"In other words, 'stay out of my way and you'll get to stay healthy,' am I right?"  
  
"Yes you are!"  
  
"Well then I'm going to hate tell you this, but."  
  
"You supervisor has us working together, doesn't he?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"I'd have thought as much. Looks like your threat went through after all. Well, shouldn't we get going?" she added, holstering her gun and pushing off from her car.  
  
"I guess," Kyle said, wondering for a moment what this woman was on.  
  
"We hauling out now?"  
  
"I suppose so."  
  
"Alright people! Get up off your lazy asses and get a move on!" she yelled at the people sitting, waiting for the go signal.  
  
They watch with a tiny hint of amusement as they scrambled to get themselves ready.  
  
Inside the shelter, Kyle has sent everyone out into their respective sections.  
  
"So, this Aya chick, she's something special to you, isn't she?"  
  
"Yes, very much so."  
  
"Don't worry," she said, smacking Kyle in the back, "We'll get her back."  
  
"I hope that you're right," he said looking away and forlorn.  
  
"Then what's that look for?"  
  
"Tomorrow was supposed to be a sort of an anniversary for us, and, well, I was going to."  
  
"Say no more my friend!"  
  
She stopped suddenly.  
  
"What is it?" Kyle asked, whispering.  
  
"Listen!" Ckat hissed.  
  
"I don't hear anything."  
  
"We're being followed!"  
  
She swung around and drew her gun. A Rook GOLEM stepped around the corner. Ckat fired of three rounds. The first cracked the thing's mask, the second shattered it, and the third splattered its head.  
  
"One down," she mumbled to herself, checking her clip.  
  
"I gotta get me one of those!" Kyle gasped, quite shocked by the whole spectacle.  
  
"Good luck. You'll have to talk to Miya, she's the one with the connections," she huffed, content for the moment with the number of bullets remaining.  
  
Aya perked up. She hadn't realized how much her senses had been heightened. She could hear Rupert, and she could smell him too. She took off running out of the room.  
  
Rupert and Andy are finishing off a Bishop GOLEM in the operating room. They don't see or hear Aya approach.  
  
"That wasn't so bad," Andy said, wiping off the small sword that he carried.  
  
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Rupert demanded.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Going after that thing with only a sword! Are you nuts?!"  
  
"Just never got used to holding a gun," Andy said, almost apologetically.  
  
"What the.?!" Rupert spat out, drawing his gun.  
  
"Huh?" Andy asked, turning around with a confused look on his face.  
  
They both stare a moment at the white GOLEM standing before them. It was very different from any of the other ones they had already dealt with. In fact, the only reason they could tell that she was a GOLEM was that she was wearing a gas mask like the rest of them and she had the grey GOLEM insignia on her shoulder.  
  
"Don't come any closer!" Rupert ordered at the white clad creator.  
  
"No, wait!" Aya cried behind the mask.  
  
"Are they suppose to talk?" Andy asked, again confused.  
  
"The only one that has been able to before was No.9. But these things are always coming up with something new!"  
  
"No, please! You have to."  
  
Andy took a swing at her before Rupert emptied his gun into her body. She instinctively fell to the ground and remained perfectly still. Rupert was about to finish her off when they were attacked by a Knight GOLEM. No.9 slipped in then and grabbed Aya before disappearing again.  
  
"Just great!" Rupert yelled.  
  
"So, kiddo, I've got a question for you," Miya called ahead of herself.  
  
"What?" Eve asked, turning around.  
  
"How come they brought you along and not glasses?"  
  
"Because, they think that I may be able to sense her."  
  
"Why would they think that?"  
  
"First off, she was able to sense my presence. And second, I.am her."  
  
"But, if we're here looking for Aya and you're Aya, then why are we here in the first place?"  
  
"Because, she is the original and I'm just, just a copy," Eve said, starting to sniffle.  
  
"A copy? Wait, you mean like a clone?"  
  
Eve nods her head slowly.  
  
"Y-yes, hick. The GOLEMS, sniff, kept me as their queen. If No.9 hurt her, it's my fault because she freed me. So I suppose that I owe it to her to help you find her."  
  
No.9 came into the white GOLEM slung over his shoulder.  
  
"I can walk, you realize," Aya hissed.  
  
"You're certain?"  
  
"Yes, now put me down!"  
  
He sets her down on her feet. She turns approaches the stunned blonde duo.  
  
"What do you want?" Miya demanded, putting herself between Eve and Aya.  
  
"Leave, now!"  
  
"And what if we don't trust you enough not to attack us while our backs are turned to you?"  
  
"A proper queen is always good to her word," Aya said, giving a small bow.  
  
The two girls slowly made their way around the white GOLEM and toward the elevator. Aya stopped Eve on her way past.  
  
"Just remember this, why should they have to settle for a cheap knock off when they can have the original?"  
  
Eve turns tail and runs away.  
  
"You really want to let them go?" No.9 asked, appearing behind Aya again.  
  
"I'm not going to let you hurt them, you bastard."  
  
She leaves and heads for the sleeping quarters.  
  
Aya finds Kyle and Ckat outside of the sleeping quarters. Her hand quickly grabbed hold of the hilt of her gunblade, not wishing to have a repeat of her meeting with Rupert.  
  
"What do you want?" she said, drawing their attention.  
  
"We came here looking for a friend of ours," Kyle said, aiming at the sudden threat.  
  
"Well, like I told your friends, get out of here before I'm no longer in such a good mood.  
  
"Where's Aya?!" Kyle demanded.  
  
"Was she a blonde?"  
  
"She is, though I fail to see what business it is of yours," Ckat piped in, also taking aim.  
  
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your friend is dead."  
  
"What?!" Kyle spat out.  
  
"You're the one who killed her, aren't you?!" Ckat yelled.  
  
"No, I am not. I did, however, stay with her until she was gone."  
  
"You-you're lying!" Kyle stammered, fighting back tears.  
  
He runs at her, trying to shoot. She whipped out her gunblade and smacked him with the flat side of it. He was sent flying backwards into Ckat. The box he had been carrying fell out of his pocket and split open on the floor. Its contents, a small diamond ring, fell out and rolled around until Aya stepped on it.  
  
"I'm not telling you again, get out of here!"  
  
"Come on! While we have the chance!" Ckat yelled, starting to drag Kyle across the floor.  
  
Kyle fought against Ckat to no avail. She managed to drag him past the white GOLEM and halfway to the elevator hall.  
  
"You're lying! I know you are! There is no way that she would let one of you monsters anywhere near her if she were hurt!"  
  
"I never said that she allowed me to, I only said that I stayed with her until death claimed her."  
  
"No!"  
  
"Move it or loose it!"  
  
"I'm sorry to have had to be the one who told you this."  
  
Ckat finally got fed up with Kyle's refusal to move of his own accord and slung him ever her shoulders in a firemen's carry before taking off running as fast as she could. Once they were gone, Aya picked up the ring and looked at it.  
  
"To think," she said, putting it in her pocket, "If I hadn't taken this mission, I could've had a normal, traditional, life. Looks like that's not happening anytime soon."  
  
She walked into the sleeping quarters and found No.9 there waiting for her. She approached him, intent on venting her frustration on its cause.  
  
"Hello, Aya," he said in a soft yet still mocking tone.  
  
The urge to fight him suddenly left her. She sat down on the bunk nearest her and cradled her head in her hands.  
  
"Shut-up! My name is Lillum! Aya seems to be dead right now, doesn't she?"  
  
"So, you've finally accepted your fait," he sneered, sitting down next to her.  
  
"Hardly! I'm just willing to put up with this for now. Just until I am able to have my human form back!"  
  
"You assume that it's even possible."  
  
"You assume that it's not."  
  
"Witty thing you've turned into."  
  
"I've always had wit, you've just always been to busy trying to kill me to notice. Now do me a favor."  
  
"What does my queen wish of me?" he asked with even more sarcasm then before.  
  
"For you to leave me alone."  
  
"Very well," he said, getting back up.  
  
"One last thing."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Understand this, once I'm human again, you will find this pretty blade that you've given me pushed through your chest and sticking out the other side. You got it?"  
  
"But of coarse, my queen," he said, mocking her once again.  
  
He walked out of the room then, finally giving Aya a little peace.  
  
"Aya's dead?! You guys have got to be shitting me!" Pierce spat. "You're taking the word of a newly formed GOLEM solder without any visual confirmation of your own?"  
  
"We didn't have time to confirm this fact!" Ckat snapped at the blond man in sunglasses. "She broad-sided Kyle and I had to bring him back here to make sure that he wasn't suffering from internal bleeding! I'm sorry if the health and safety of a team-member that I know to be alive is more important to me then that of one that of one that we aren't sure of!"  
  
"You guys ran into that white GOLEM too?" Rupert asked.  
  
"She's a queen," Miya said suddenly from her corner.  
  
"What?" Pierce asked, completely confused.  
  
"When I asked her how we could be sure that she wouldn't attack us when our backs were turned, she said, 'A queen is always good for her word.' She's a Queen GOLEM."  
  
"Just what we need, the whole, freakin', chess set!" Pierce groaned before looking around in confusion. "Where'd Ms. Enders go?"  
  
"Who?" Kyle asked.  
  
"Ckat, you moron!" Andy snapped. "You worked directly with her and you didn't even get her sir name?! You people are hopeless."  
  
"I was to busy trying to keep from getting killed!"  
  
"Don't worry, she has a habit of disappearing when there's something she needs to do," Miya said.  
  
"What could be more important then this debriefing?!"  
  
"Rank differently with her."  
  
Ckat found who she had been looking for. Eve was curled up on an otherwise empty cot. Ckat shrugged off her coat used it to cover the half-asleep teenager.  
  
"What do you really want here?" Eve asked, propping herself up on an elbow.  
  
"Why do you think I have an ulterior motive?"  
  
"The White House withdrew their forces the moment they thought it was safe to do so. I doubt that they would have sent you unless you were highly expendable."  
  
"Quite the opposite really," Ckat interjected, "We're perhaps their most valuable asset, we just happen to be in the area and volunteered for the job."  
  
"You threatened to spill your guts on the country to the highest foreign bidder, didn't you?" Eve asked cynically.  
  
"You better believe it!" Ckat responded with a smirk.  
  
She sits down next to Eve's legs.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
Ckat took off her sunglasses for the second time that day. Eve somehow found comfort in those eyes.  
  
"Something's wrong. What is it?"  
  
"Can you keep a secret?"  
  
"Do stars shine at night?"  
  
"When we were being chased off by the white GOLEM, she stopped me for a moment. She asked me why they, Neo Ark, should have settled for a cheap knock off when they could have had the original. I wouldn't call myself a cheap knock off, but I am a copy. I'm a copy of Aya. The only way she would have been able to say something like that is if she was Aya!"  
  
Ckat gets up from her seat.  
  
"I can only imagine what could have happened to her to make her talk like that. Don't worry though, your secret is safe with me. Good night, sweet child. I'll get my coat back tomorrow. Sleep well.  
  
She started to walk out of the room, replacing her sunglasses as she went. Eve settled in.  
  
"Where were you headed, anyway?"  
  
"Where else? Vegas!" Ckat answered with a grin.  
  
Eve falls asleep; praying, unknown to her, with Aya, that this was all a horrible nightmare. 


	2. final

Nyo! Here it is, the second, and likely last, chapter of this little adventure.  
  
Like I said last time, I don't own Parasite Eve.  
  
Pierce has dragged Ckat and her team into the rebuilt Dryfield. He was planning on taking them to see Gary Douglas, that plan went straight to hell the moment they got out of her car. Ckat made a b-line for the G+R, (even though she was supposed to be deathly allergic to alcohol) Miya went straight for the general store, and Andy went for the junkyard, ironically where Douglas was supposed to meet them. He makes up his mind to go after Ckat and make sure that she didn't literally drink herself to death.  
  
He walked into the saloon to find her playing pool, and apparently winning.  
  
"You're about to owe me fifty bucks, pal!" she announced, triumphantly. "Three ball, corner pocket!" it went in, "Eight ball, side pocket!" that one went in as well, while she let out a victorious woop.  
  
Pierce walked over to the pool table and saw that all the striped balls were still on the table.  
  
"A shut-out! Whao! Ckat!"  
  
"What?" she asked, turning to face him after collecting her money.  
  
"We're supposed to be someplace else right now."  
  
"Why talk weapons with some old geezer when I can make money doing something I love?"  
  
"Are you this annoying on purpose?"  
  
"You want to know why I'm like this?" she asked, leaning on her pool-stick, "There's a story that the people who once were native to this area used to tell. The tale of the fox and the scorpion. One day, the scorpion needed to cross a river. He went to the fox and asked him for a ride across. 'No,' the fox said, 'You will sting me!' 'No I won't,' the scorpion said, 'If I did that, we'd both drown.' The fox began to carry the scorpion across. Halfway to the other side, the scorpion struck. 'Why did you do that?' the fox asked as he began to go under, 'Now we will both drown!' 'I could not help it. It is my nature'."  
  
"So it's your nature to be this annoying?" Pierce asked, crossing his arms over his chest.  
  
"Yep! And it's also in my nature to be a trickster as your friend Rupert is likely finding out about now," she said, looking at her watch.  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"I just glued him to his chair," she said a little too sweetly.  
  
"And just what possessed you to do that?"  
  
"The fact that he's the only one of you guys who actually has his own office."  
  
"Just what sick planet are you from?"  
  
"I was born on this planet. And I don't like your implication!"  
  
"Ya, well most normal people don't go around gluing other people to their chairs."  
  
"You really need to relax X-ray."  
  
"X-ray?"  
  
"Ya, X-ray." She said, putting her cue away. "Think of it as a gift of sorts."  
  
"Can we go now? I don't want to be at the receiving end of Gary's shotgun."  
  
"Right," she commented sarcastically.  
  
She started for the door, stopping only to push down the hat of an overly vocal admirer.  
  
Aya is staring at her reflection in the mirror again.  
  
'What is my fascination with my reflection all of a sodden?' she asked herself.  
  
'Because, it's my fascination, not yours," a familiar voice answered.  
  
'You again?' she asked, less then happy, 'I thought I'd gotten rid of you for good.'  
  
'The only way you can get rid of me for good would be get rid of yourself for good.'  
  
'Drop dead.'  
  
'Why don't you?' the other laughed.  
  
"Get out of my head!" Aya screamed, right as No.9 came into the room.  
  
"What is wrong my queen?" he asked, mocking her.  
  
"Leave me alone!" she screamed, more at the other her then at her adversary.  
  
She grabbed at her head and started screaming. Without realizing it, she released a blast of Plasma that was stronger than anything she had ever used before. The blast sent No.9 flying into the far wall.  
  
"Well, certainly didn't see that coming."  
  
Aya collapsed back onto the bed with a thud. A few seconds after, as No.9 was picking himself up, a pair of glowing green eyes opened behind the mask.  
  
"Lillith," the other Aya said, sitting up, "That is the name that I gave myself, am I remembering correctly?"  
  
She gets off the bed walks over to a rather confused No.9.  
  
"Why do you care so suddenly?" he asked, ready to push her away.  
  
"Because, I'm the one in charge of this body again," Lillith said softly, "She's had her time, now it's my turn!"  
  
"What the...?"  
  
She brushed past the green-clad GOLEM.  
  
"I have things to take care of."  
  
"Such as what?" he asked, chasing after the woman.  
  
"Getting rid of any reason she might have to fight back!"  
  
"Why the hell are we the only ones who have to listen to the old fart talk about guns!? Damn! Ckat probably knows more about gun making then this guy!"  
  
"Is that why the guys down in the weapons locker won't let me anywhere near their gun smithing tools?" Ckat asked, arching an eyebrow behind her sunglasses.  
  
"You better believe it!" Miya answered. "You're crazy enough to figure out how to modify that 'Fox' of yours into a rocket launcher!"  
  
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Ckat remarked, looking at the gun under her coat.  
  
"You're both nuts!" Pierce announced.  
  
"At least we're not scared shitless of guns!" Ckat retorted, flashing a grin that left Pierce weak in the knees.  
  
"Where'd Andy go?" Miya piped in.  
  
"He's probably at the local junk heap! And doing what you ask? Why, what else? Gathering parts for his next big project of coarse!" Ckat yelled in irritation.  
  
"I think there are a few people who didn't hear you over there in China!" Miya snapped, striking Ckat across the back of the head.  
  
Ckat responded by swinging at Miya, who easily ducked the blow.  
  
"Ladies!" Pierce yelled, stopping both the women in their tracks. "Now that that's out of the way, what sort of projects are you talking about? Nothing illegal, I hope."  
  
"Na," Ckat said with a wave of her hand, "Andy used to work as a mechanic, so he's always working on something new.  
  
Just then, a shotgun blast flew past Ckat and Miya's shoulders. Ckat pulled out both her weapons, the one she had duded the 'Kitsune' and a smaller police issue pistol, and aimed them both at the man with the shotgun.  
  
"The real question is, 'who's got the itchiest trigger finger?'"  
  
"So you've got a couple of nice pistols. But can you hit anything with it?"  
  
All present watched as Ckat crossed one arm over the other. She fired first her left pistol then her right. Gary felt two quick breezes pass by his face.  
  
"If you were trying to shoot my eyes out, you're a worse shot then I first thought."  
  
"Gary," Pierce squeaked.  
  
"What?" Gary barked.  
  
"Look at your hat."  
  
Gary reached up and grabbed his hat off the top of his head. His eyes widened when he saw that the bullet holes in his hat lined up with his hatband.  
  
"How the hell?!" Gary spat out in shock. He then broke out into a very disturbing grin. "Well, if one of you can shoot this damn good, you're fine by me! Come on back to my trailer, I'll get you all a beer!"  
  
"Sorry," Ckat said holding up her hands in front of her, "I have to go check on my car," she added, backing away.  
  
She turned and walked away a little faster than she normally moved.  
  
"Suddenly she doesn't like me?" he asks after pulling Pierce into a bear hug.  
  
"I think she's a recovering alcoholic or something," Pierce wheezed, trying to get air.  
  
Lillith has situated herself in the shrine area of Neo Ark. A Pawn GOLEM entered carrying a small glass case with it. No.9 watched this with something resembling interest.  
  
"What do you plan on doing with that?"  
  
"I'm not going to eat it, if that's what you're suggesting," she said, lifting the lid of the case and caressing the scorpion inside. "I'm going to flex as many of this girls powers as I can. And the first thing I'm doing is awakening this little one here."  
  
She removed one of her gloves and touched the small arachnid. Her eyes glowed a brighter green and the scorpion started to grow and mutate. As the creature continued to grow, the GOLEM solder dropped the case. Soon the neo-mitochondrion creature was standing on a pile of broken glass, ready to fight anything that came near.  
  
"And you plan to get rid of the humans using that?"  
  
"Not just this. This was just so I could find out how powerful she really is," she said, pulling her glove back on. "I'll need a lot more than this little one to get rid of those nuisances." She looked at the Pawn GOLEM with a rigid stance. "Take ten more of your fellow flunkies with you and find more creatures for me to awaken! And bring me some different critters, I'm going to have some fun while I'm at this!"  
  
"Heaven help those fools!" No.9 announced triumphantly.  
  
Lillith burst out laughing at this.  
  
A young woman is dumping out some garbage behind Dryfield's rebuilt General store. She looked over at her dog, who had pups, when she heard her barking. She sees an area of space wavering away from her, with one of the puppies dangling in the air. She shoos the dog and pups inside before following suit.  
  
The radio in Gary's trailer began beeping rapidly. He hobbled over and grabbed the mouthpiece.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Gary?" asked the person on the other end "and don't think you can get me to talk trucker the way you did when I was five, this is important!"  
  
"Then tell me what it is, Terry."  
  
"You remember those things that you guys got rid of awhile back? Well, one of them took one of Lucy's pups."  
  
"Sorry Terry, but I have to ask, you haven't been getting into the secrete sauce, have you?"  
  
"How dare you even think such a thing! Just because my grandfather would have a few drinks and see things that weren't there, does not mean that I do the same thing!"  
  
"Sorry, but I had to ask you know?"  
  
"Just get down here as fast as you can."  
  
"Alright, don't go outside 'till someone gets there."  
  
"Got it!"  
  
Gary put the mouthpiece back in its holder.  
  
Eve brought her scooter to a stop in the parking lot in front of the General store. She spotted Ckat's convertible nearby. Ckat, however, was nowhere to be found. Without hesitation, she hopped over the door and into the driver's seat. She sat there, playing with the steering wheel and making driving noises. She looked over at the glove box and wondered what the mysterious woman kept in there. She popped it open and was disappointed to find only a map and a pair of wrap around sunglasses, which she promptly claimed as her own.  
  
'Trunk release? Wonder what that does, heheh.' She thought to herself, mischievously.  
  
She popped the lid then hopped over the door and trotted back there. Ckat had some pretty neat stuff with her. Eve pulled out a second leather coat, this one red, and looked it over. It looked as though it would have reached only to the woman's knees and had a strange lining. Eve pulled it on and found that it brushed the ground on her. She was so distracted that she didn't notice the woman approaching in the shadows.  
  
"Hey, kiddo!" she yelled, startling the girl.  
  
Eve jumped at the sound of the woman's lilting voice; hitting her head when she did so.  
  
"What are you doing in my trunk?"  
  
"I...I..." Eve stammered.  
  
"Well?" Ckat asked, placing her hands on her hips.  
  
"I wasn't going to take anything! I swear!" Eve yelled, pulling them off the coat and glasses.  
  
"Relax! You'll live longer." Ckat said holding her hands in front of her. "Besides, they don't fit me or Miya, so you're welcome to keep them," she chuckled. "Ya know, with a gun and a pair of gloves, you'd look like a member of our team!"  
  
"Ya think?" Eve asked hopefully.  
  
"Ya, sure!" Ckat said, messing with Eve's hair, "But you'd have to get your mum's okay at your age if you want to come with us."  
  
Eve looked down at this thought.  
  
"What's the matter?"  
  
"Got no mom. Just my sister and she's..." Eve left it at that.  
  
"Don't worry, kid, we'll get her back, I promise," Ckat said placing a hand on Eve's shoulder.  
  
Eve noticed the air behind Ckat shudder. A Bishop GOLEM appeared from the air behind them.  
  
"Ckat! Look out!" Eve yelled.  
  
Ckat whipped around and pulled out both her weapons as the soldier disappeared. Ckat shoved the pistol into Eve's hands.  
  
"I don't know how to shoot!" she yelled.  
  
"What!?!" Ckat yelled. "You mean that no one ever showed you how to use a gun?! Great!"  
  
"Sis wouldn't let me anywhere near the shooting range!"  
  
"Well, think of this as your first lesson! See that that thing at the end of the barrel?! Line it up with whatever you want to shoot, and squeeze the trigger. Whatever you do, don't pull it, you'll hurt your hand that way!"  
  
The Bishop reappeared along with several Knights. Neither Ckat nor Eve were to happy at this.  
  
"Well, I guess the way I know if I pass is if I come out of this alive, huh?" Eve laughed, her voice full of fear.  
  
"Yeah, so no failing, got it?" Ckat said.  
  
They started shooting at the soldiers. Eve saw one coming up on Ckat's side without her noticing.  
  
"Ckat! Look out!" Eve yelled.  
  
As Ckat was ducking down, Eve felt a strange energy building inside of her body. She threw a blast of pyrokinesise at the GOLEM, sending it flying backwards. Ckat was up again in a flash, finishing the thing of with two bullets. Eve emptied the pistol's clip into another GOLEM as it fell to the ground. When the whole thing was over, Eve was standing over the one she'd finished off, looking very pleased with herself.  
  
"You see what I did?!" Eve asked, starting to shake from the excitement.  
  
"Yes, you should be proud of yourself. You did very well for your first mission. Perhaps when you're old enough to, you'll be able to join us."  
  
"You think so?!?"  
  
"Ya, just work on your aim a little bit," Ckat said playfully punching Eve in the jaw. "Let's go."  
  
Ckat headed back toward Douglas' trailer, Eve hot on her heels.  
  
Partway back, they run into the three others.  
  
"We need to get back to headquarters right away." Pierce panted.  
  
"Why?" Ckat asked.  
  
"Jodie called and told me that the program I set up last night while you guys were at Neo Ark finished running through."  
  
"And what does that get us?" Eve asked, grabbing Ckat's hand tightly.  
  
"I set it to hack into Neo Ark's mainframe. We now have complete and total access to the Ark Cam system, security, even their database. We may even be able to find out what happened to Aya!"  
  
"Whatever you hope to find, good luck," Ckat said, walking away from them.  
  
"Just what are you implying?" Pierce demanded.  
  
"I meant what I said, I don't know what you're hoping to find, but I  
  
want you to be able to find it!"  
  
Ckat then realized that Eve was no longer holding her hand.  
  
"Kid must have decided to get a head start."  
  
"All right, what do you have for me people?" Pierce asked as he walked into the room.  
  
"Looks like someone suddenly thinks he's in charge!" Jodie announced.  
  
"Sorry guys, I guess I'm more uptight then I thought," he apologized, rubbing where Ckat had hit him on the back of the neck.  
  
"Forgiven!" Rupert called from his office.  
  
"You're going to have to dig around the set up yourself. No one here can make any sense of it," Jodie informed him.  
  
"Well, make way for the master!"  
  
"Thanks for inflating his ego, Jode, it's just what we needed!" Kyle called from the chair he was sitting in.  
  
Pierce sat down at his computer and began typing away. A few minutes later he let out a startled yelp.  
  
"Guys! Listen to this! 'Subject Lillith is adapting to her new parts faster then could have ever been imagined. Her mitochondria seem to want this very badly even though she wants to fight it.'"  
  
"Weird!" Eve whispered.  
  
"There's more! This one's dated earlier today. 'Her mitochondria, Lillith, have asserted themselves as the dominant mind. She is taking to her duties as the new queen very well indeed. She has already begun to awaken the mitochondria of other creatures with amazing results.'"  
  
"But what does that have to do with us?" Miya grumbled from her place against the faraway wall.  
  
"If, somehow, this Lillith is or was Aya, then we may have a chance to get her back!"  
  
"Fools!" Ckat announced.  
  
All others turn to look at the less then helpful woman. Eve's eyes went wide with fear.  
  
"I guess that there are advantages to being raised among priests," she laughed. "Few outside the Vatican seem to learn of this in their lifetime. Cain and Able weren't the first example of twins in biblical history."  
  
"Then who was?" Kyle asked.  
  
"Lillith and Eve." Ckat said, "Lillith was the first wife of Adam. She refused to be submissive to him and left. Then Eve was created after that. Eve and Lillith were mirror images of each other but as out going and independent as Lillith was Eve was just as introverted and dependent."  
  
"So you're saying that Aya had that Lillith thing living inside of her this whole time?" Pierce asked, "turning around in his chair. "The same way Mitochondria Eve was part of her sister, Maya?"  
  
"Yes, I am!"  
  
"But how come we've never seen her before?" Jodie asked, more to herself then to anyone else.  
  
"Maybe we have!" Kyle said, clearly having thought of something. "Hey, Rupert! You still got that picture of Aya back in New York?"  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"The one that was a paper clipping, with her using Liberate!"  
  
"Hang on a minute!" He shuffled through his desk. "Here it is!" He runs over holding the clipping.  
  
He threw the piece of paper down on the table they were all gathered around. Everybody looked at the picture closely. Sure enough, there was a creature that was human in shape but completely different in color and detail.  
  
"So, this is what she looks like without her skin," Ckat remarked.  
  
"She's one of the creatures that she has to hunt, poor thing." Andy whispered.  
  
"That can't be easy on anyone," Miya mumbled.  
  
"If that was Aya's Neo Miitochondrial from then for all we know, Lillith could have been gaining strength since '97." Pierce half asked, half stated.  
  
"This is bad," Eve whispered.  
  
Lillith is watching her new Neo Mitochondria creatures from the observatory. She soon realizes that Aya was once again awake.  
  
'Well, well, well. It would seem as though Sleeping Beauty was finally kissed by Prince Charming, hasn't she?'  
  
'Drop dead!'  
  
'Someone's feeling feisty today!'  
  
Switch to the plain of their minds. Aya looks much like herself but for her lack of clothing and pair of glowing, golden wings growing out of her back. Lillith, on the other hand, looked like Aya's Neo Mitochondrian form, save for the fact that she had no wings and extra long claws.  
  
"You bitch! This is my body! You have no right..."  
  
"I have no right? You're the one running around ruining this body. And that man you run around with! You would actually taint our genes with... that!"  
  
"You leave him out of this! And that has nothing to do with my point. This is my body! If you think that you can just come in here and do as you please, you've got another thing coming!" "I didn't just 'come in here' as you say, I've been here all along, since the moment, you were conceived! I AM YOU! And you are nothing without me!"  
  
"As are you without me!" Aya burst out. "You need my body to work! You need my body to channel your energy into the physical world. And if I were to take my life, you'd be screwed!"  
  
"You think that I would allow you control long enough to pull such a stunt?"  
  
Aya ran at the other her, wrapping her hands around the blue creature's neck. Lillith did the same to her adversary.  
  
Switch back to reality.  
  
Lillith is grabbing at her head and stumbling around. She lost control of her powers then. Aya forced a blast of Inferno. Soon after, she also let loose a blast of Apobiosis before collapsing, kicking and screaming.  
  
Kyle has managed to drag Andy away from the rest of the group.  
  
"Listen," he said, "I need you to talk to Ckat, I'm planning on going back into Neo Ark after Aya and I'm not coming back without her!"  
  
"Noble thoughts, but it said that the path to hell is paved with good intentions. And why do you need me to talk to her?"  
  
"She's shot me in the foot once already. I'm not looking for a repeat performance if you know what I mean!"  
  
"I get your point. I'll see what I can do, but I'm not making any promises!"  
  
"If you can convince her to come, tell her that we're leaving tonight."  
  
"Don't worry, I'm on it!"  
  
"What?! You mean like a black opps?! Alright! We haven't been on one of those since our stint in boot camp!" Ckat wooped.  
  
"Just goes to show you! No matter how much things change, no matter where you go; there's always a bit of the old days when you look hard enough." Miya chuckled.  
  
"I don't even want to know what you're talking about." Andy said flatly.  
  
"You'd be more scared if you were there yourself!" Ckat told her male counter-part slyly while tapping him on the side of the face with a gun that looked rather like Rupert's Mongoose.  
  
"Where the hell did you get that?"  
  
"I asked Jodie how much it would cost me and she said it was taken care of." Ckat said, shrugging her shoulders.  
  
"Just what you need, a new toy!" Miya announced.  
  
"You tell that friend of yours that we'll be going with him." Ckat said, holstering her new gun.  
  
"What happened to the gun you normally use?"  
  
"I gave it to someone."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Me!" Eve said, stepping from around the door frame.  
  
She was still wearing the coat and sunglasses that Ckat had let her keep and her new gun was tucked into the waistband of her jeans.  
  
"How long have you been standing there?" Ckat asked.  
  
"Long enough," Eve said, walking into the room further. "And if you're going back in after Aya, then you're taking me with you!"  
  
"There is no way in hell that I'm bringing you on a suicide mission! One of your people has been taken hostage and I'll not have that happening again!"  
  
Eve ran out of the room, her face almost glowing bright red. Ckat noticed Andy smiling and shaking his head at her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"For a second there, you looked almost motherly, almost human."  
  
"Shut-up!"  
  
Later that night...  
  
"Eve!" Kyle yelled in surprise. "What are you doing here?!"  
  
"Ckat let me come!" Eve piped, leaning forward.  
  
Kyle turned to look at the redhead driving the car.  
  
"Sad puppy face?" he asked.  
  
"Sad puppy face," she said flatly.  
  
"When was this?" Miya asked.  
  
"She ambushed me by the vending machine," Ckat replied, "And when it looked to her like it wasn't going to work, she threatened me with the water- works."  
  
"Careful, they might start to think you're human!" Andy said, quickly ducking the swat into the back seat.  
  
Kyle allowed himself a small smile at that moment. Aya would be laughing her butt off at that moment. Aya, that reminded him, she might already be dead; or worse; beyond their help. He jumped when he felt a set of knuckles tapped the top of his head.  
  
"Ye awake there?" Ckat asked, returning her hand to the steering wheel.  
  
"Ya, just in deep thought."  
  
"Dun't worry, we'll get her back in one piece."  
  
"You sound so sure of that."  
  
"Hey! Just ask the blondes in the back, I don't open my mouth unless it's to eat or say what I believe!"  
  
"She's not kidding!" Miya offered, "The only time she's ever lied to me was that time she said she didn't know what my mother was planning for my birthday."  
  
"Maybe, but how often have you been wrong?"  
  
"Only twice," she said, shaking her head, "Only twice. So you got some sort of plan that you'd like to share with us?"  
  
"Just that we go in, find her, and get the hell out of there."  
  
"We're here!" Ckat announced as they pulled up to the mine entrance.  
  
Everyone filed out of the car and down the corridor.  
  
Lillith opened her eyes to the overhead lights of the operating room. She sat up and swung her legs around to the floor.  
  
"Good to see that you've decided to come back to us," No. 9 said helping her to stand.  
  
"I'd like to get back to my work as soon as possible," she said sternly.  
  
"You'll do well to get some rest first."  
  
Lillith smacked No.9's arms away and turned her back to him.  
  
"Come now," he said, spreading his arms for her, "You know that I'm far more impressed with you then with the creature that you're forced to share your body with."  
  
Lillith turned around to face the King GOLEM. He placed a hand on the side of her face.  
  
"Just get a few hours of rest. If you don't, she might get control again. You wouldn't want that happening now would you?"  
  
"No, I wouldn't," she said, holding his arm where it was. "I'll rest for a while then get back to work. Until then, I need for you to have the soldiers continue to gather creatures for me to awaken."  
  
"If it will get rid of those humans, then I shall gladly do so."  
  
"I'll take my leave then."  
  
"How's your aim?" Kyle asked, looking around the corner.  
  
"Dun't get much better!" she said stepping to the other side of Kyle.  
  
She took a quick look around the corner to establish the target's pattern of movement. She swung her arm around and fired two rounds into the GOLEM.  
  
"Alright kiddo! Time for your second lesson. Long range shooting."  
  
"Hang on a second! You gave her shooting lessons?!?" Kyle asked, stunned.  
  
"Hell, I gave her my first gun for the occasion." She informed him, "Seemed like a good idea at the time."  
  
Eve slid around the corner and fired two more rounds into the soldier. They moved away from the area as fast as they could.  
  
"Pierce! We need information!" Kyle whispered into his earpiece once they were inside the main corridor.  
  
'"That is my job, after all."' Pierce said over the channel.  
  
"Tell us where the Queen GOLEM is if you can. And it would be nice if that were to happen tonight!" Kyle requested.  
  
'"The Ark Cam video record showed her walking into the sleeping quarters. But that area has been locked. You're not getting in there without a password."'  
  
"Can he hack into the system?" Miya asked, joining Ckat by the door.  
  
"Did you here that?" Kyle asked.  
  
'"As Ckat would say, do pigeons shit on bald people's heads?"'  
  
"Just do it already!"  
  
'"Alright! Let's see, enter password. Let's try 'GOLEM'. Okay, bad idea. Shall we try 'Neo Ark'? No luck. How's about 'Lillith'? Hey!"'  
  
"You get us in?"  
  
'"No, but it did decide to get me some sort of riddle to answer. Let me see, 'the dude who brought down the big JC.' Anyone know someone with the initials J C?"'  
  
"Hey, does anybody..." Kyle star  
  
"Tell him to try Iscariot," Ckat interrupted  
  
'"What did she say?"'  
  
"She said to try Iscariot!" Kyle shouted. "How did you hear that over there?" he asked.  
  
"You'd rather not know."  
  
'"We're in!"'  
  
They open the door and move in as quietly as they can. They find the white GOLEM asleep on the bunk designated for Yoshida. Kyle moved in closer to the female that might or might not have been Aya at one time. Andy pulls out a bottle of chloroform and tossed it over to Kyle. He caught the bottle and the rag that came with it, pouring the unpleasant liquid onto the rag until it began to drip. Ckat and Miya fiddle with Lillith's mask until it came free. Lillith began to stir from her dreams.  
  
"Aya, please forgive me." Kyle whispered before pressing the rag to Lillith's face. She struggled for a moment before collapsing back onto the mattress.  
  
"What do we do know?" Eve squeaked.  
  
"I'd say that carrying her out of here without being noticed would be a good way to start," Miya said, helping Ckat wrap Lillith/Aya up in her cloak and bed sheets. Kyle pushes the two women out of his way and picks up the GOLEM. They walk out of the room.  
  
"She's not going to wake up on us is she?" Pierce asked, peaking into the makeshift hospital room.  
  
Ckat had called in a team of doctors in to handle the situation with Aya.  
  
"No, they've got her under anetheja." Ckat said, sticking a piece of biscuit candy in her mouth. "If anything, they have to be careful no to loose her on the table."  
  
"Jeez, when you said that you had connections, you meant that you had connections!" Rupert gasped.  
  
"Yea, well, I used up the last of those favors with this little endeavor," she said, holding out the box for any takers.  
  
Eve tentatively took a stick and stuck it in her mouth. A second later she spit it out, her eyes watering.  
  
"Don't take well to cinnamon, ni?" Ckat asked, pulling out a pink box and tossing it to the girl. "You struck me as a strawberry anyways."  
  
"What did you mean when you said you'd used up all of your favors?" Kyle asked, watching Aya on the table.  
  
"I had to call in some favors just to be here." She said solemnly, brushing an arrant lock of hair from her face, "Normally, they'd find that my skills, not mention those of my teammates, are to valuable to 'waste' on such a 'frivolous' outing."  
  
"Who are you people, anyway?" Rupert asked.  
  
"A.T.A.U." Ckat said, looking away.  
  
"Huh?" the M.I.S.T. agents asked in unison.  
  
"Anti Terroristic Action Unit." Andy piped in.  
  
"Our job is to prevent further terrorist action against the country." Miya finished.  
  
"Then how come we've never heard of you guys before?" Jodie asked, off set.  
  
"You aren't supposed to," Ckat said softly. "We officially don't exist. And when we leave, we'll have never have been here to begin with."  
  
The head doctor came out then.  
  
"We've removed all of the implants that we could."  
  
"Why?!" Kyle demanded.  
  
"Some of the implants have replaced parts of her body that she needs to live. And others, we can't figure how they got in there in the first place."  
  
"So, what? Is she going to have to live with those things inside her for the rest of her life?" Kyle demanded, grabbing the woman by her collar.  
  
"Sir, the implants I spoke of won't infringe upon her everyday life. In fact, some of them will probably lengthen her life in healthy ways," the woman said, prying Kyle from her shirt. "So, you see, she will be just fine!"  
  
Aya woke up in her head. She looked up and saw that the other her was still out cold. She got up and walked over to her. She stood there, over the other her. Lillith stirred and sat up. She was startled by Aya's presence.  
  
"What the hell!?! How did you manage to wake up?"  
  
Aya looked around calmly.  
  
"You were going to take away everyone that I care about to make sure that I didn't fight you anymore, but you didn't anticipate them coming back for me again."  
  
"It doesn't matter how many times they 'rescue' you, I'll still come back! You can't get rid of me!"  
  
"Who said anything about getting rid of you? I know I can never do that. But that's not to say that I can't bury you!"  
  
"You think that you're strong enough to do something like that?" Lillith demanded, jumping to her feet.  
  
"Not alone, no. But,"  
  
"But what?"  
  
"Do you feel that?"  
  
"Feel what?"  
  
"Kyle's here, he's holding my hand. Eve's here too. And the others as well. Even some people that I've never met before. I can hear Kyle, he's telling me to keep fighting. They all are."  
  
All this time, Lillith was backing away and growing weakening.  
  
"I'm not going to let you win!" Aya yelled.  
  
Chains shot up from the ground and entangled Lillith.  
  
"No!" Lillith screamed, being pulled slowly into the shadows.  
  
"You're only as strong as I allow you to be," Aya said calmly, willing Lillith further into the shadows. "That's something that Maya and Melissa never had the chance to find out for themselves."  
  
"No! I am the stronger sister! I've always been!"  
  
"But so am I!" Aya yelled, sending Lillith further into the shadows.  
  
Lillith screamed and disappeared completely into the darkness.  
  
Aya opened her eyes and looked around. Sure enough, Kyle was holding her hand.  
  
"Aya?" Kyle whispered, "Is that you?"  
  
"Who else would it be?" she croaked.  
  
"You had us worried there for a while," Ckat said, smiling.  
  
"You're new here," Aya said flatly.  
  
"You noticed?" Ckat asked, just as flatly.  
  
"Are you going to be alright?" Eve asked.  
  
"Yes, I just need a little time to rest."  
  
They heard a volley of small explosions coming from the front of the building.  
  
"They've come back to get me. So much for getting some rest. Hurry, help me get these clothes back on!"  
  
"What?! You're going back?" everyone asked, almost in unison.  
  
"I have business to take care of," she said solemnly.  
  
Kyle quickly started handing Aya the white queen's clothes. When he grabbed her shirt, he felt something in the pocket. He pulled out the ring that he had been going to give Aya. He slipped it into his pocket before handing the shirt back to its owner. They watch her walk, rather unsteadily, out of the room.  
  
In the parking garage, Aya came face to face with No.9 and several other GOLEM soldiers.  
  
"Lillith! Please tell me that you're unharmed."  
  
"Not a scratch," she said calmly without a moment's hesitation.  
  
"Good, come, we'll deal with these riff-raff another time."  
  
He led her out of the building and to his motorcycle. He helped her on then started it up.  
  
They've reached the Mojave desert. No.9 was feeling very pleased with himself with his queen's arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Suddenly, he felt a surge of electricity go through his body. He lost control and they were both thrown off. When No.9 picked himself up from the sand, he came face to face with Aya, who had removed her mask and pulled back her hood.  
  
"What the hell?!" He yelled in shock.  
  
Aya swung her gunblade around and into No.9's chest.  
  
"What? How?" he asked still unable to believe what was happening  
  
"It's like I told you; once I regain my humanity, you'll find this shiny blade stuck in your chest and coming out your back," she said, driving the blade in up to its hilt. "Oops," she mocked, "Checkmate," she whispered as he fell to the ground short-circuiting.  
  
Minutes later, the other M.I.S.T. agents arrived to find a shuddering Aya. Kyle ran over and wrapped his arms around her.  
  
"Don't ever do that to me again!" he whispered to her.  
  
"I won't!" she whispered back.  
  
Ok peoples. For now, that be the show. I have an epilogue in line for this. It's short, kinda sappy, and doesn't have a whole lot of diologe either. But if you want to read it, let me know. I've also got something resembling a sequel in line, again, if you want to read it, please tell me! Anyways, ja for nyo! 


	3. epologe

Ckat and Kyle are busy arguing quietly amongst themselves so that that none of the others in the office would hear them.

"You can't seriously be thinking of making me go through with this!" Kyle protested as quietly as he could, he didn't want Aya overhearing this and cornering him into talking.

"Does this look like the face of someone who'd lie to you?" Ckat asked, letting her sunglasses slide down her nose.

"I can't tell, I've never actually seen your whole face before," Kyle grunted, picking up the paper.

"Please," he heard her squeal, before lowering the paper to look at her again and finding her staring at him pleadingly, "You just have to!" she cried, pulling the paper down to make him look at her, "I'll even let you use my card!" she finished, pushing the gold-colored card into Kyle's hands.

"Where am I supposed to take her on this short of notice?" he demanded, looking her over once more.

"Why not Shea Venar's?" Ckat offered, her eyes pleading with him.

"Doesn't that place have a waiting list three months long?" he asked, giving her a look.

"Tell me about it," she grumbled, putting her head down on the table.

"Are you saying that you called and reserved a table three months in advance!" Kyle demanded, beginning to raise his voice and then covering his mouth in shock.

"Your voice you idiot!" Ckat growled, swatting him upside the head, "Do you want everyone to here you?"

"Sorry, a surprise like that'll make a person yell you realize," he growled, pulling her closer by her arm and leaning forward to be heard clearly.

"Well, you need to learn to keep it down," she snarled, pulling his hand off her sleeve, "And just go ask her. Or else I'll tell her what you're planning on asking her, and then where will you be?" she mused, liding her eyes at him.

"You wouldn't…" Kyle growled, leaning in even closer to the source of his aggravation.

"Wanna bet?" she chuckled through her broadening grin.

Kyle growled again, storming out of the office without another word to anyone.

As it turned out, Kyle did work up the nerve to ask Aya to have dinner with him at the restaurant that Ckat had said about. She had inquired as to how he'd gotten the reservations in the first place, though. His only answer was that he now owed someone a rather large favor for this one.

"Where are they?" Eve asked, looking around for her sister.

"They'll be here, don't you worry. Kyle doesn't strike me as the type who would turn down food that he didn't have to pay for himself," Ckat answered, looking around herself.

"Dang tootin'!" Jodie called, looking right as the target couple moved into view, "there they are now!"

Sure enough, there were Aya and Kyle walking through the room on their way to their table. The group watched as they sat down and ordered their meals.

"He'd better ask her soon," Miya whispered, fidgeting in her seat.

"Got a date of your own to get to?" Pierce asked, a grin forming on his face.

"Um, no, nothing like that, I just need to take care of something ASAP!" she said, squirming some more.

There was a collective 'Oh' from the rest of the group as they turned to watch the events unfold.

Kyle was kneeling next to where Aya was sitting, digging through his pocket for something. Aya looked in curiosity at what he began to pull out. Her eyes lit up when she saw the same ring that she had found in the compound when she was there.

The group watched in awe as there were words exchanged quietly between the two of them, small smiles playing on their lips as they spoke. There were tears building in Aya's eyes as she placed her hands on the sides of Kyle's face, leaning down to kiss him softly.

Okay, this is it for this story. As I said before, there is a sequel in the works if people are interested. Before that, though, we'll being going to my favorite part of any movie- the bloopers! So until then, leave whatever review you have for me, if you have some ideas for the next section, I'd love to hear them.


End file.
